CHAPTER D'OUVRAGE | Territoire et Valeur(s) Publique(s). A plea for a Dewey approach

In this book, the IMPGT's team of researchers takes stock of the Aix-en-Provence school's work in public management, and outlines new perspectives for research and action. There is a certain disorganization in the field of public management. Misunderstanding leads to powerlessness, and feeds democratic, decision-making, budgetary and human dysfunction. This book deciphers this constantly evolving field. The first part reveals an abundance of ideas, ambiguities about the meaning of performance, contradictions about the aims of public management, territorial complexity, specificities to be integrated and trade-offs to be made. Organizations and players are therefore being re-interrogated, and their responses are not self-evident. The second part of this chapter suggests some possible solutions. Without claiming to be exhaustive, it shows that the profession of public manager needs to be rethought, that modes of governance need to be adapted, and that new responses need to be invented, in all areas of public intervention.

New and often paradoxical challenges are emerging. But managers are not without resources. This book is based on numerous bibliographical references and field studies. The points of view and the words of the players play a substantial role. All those with an interest in public management, and of course managers, will find here concrete food for thought and action to help them in their day-to-day work.